Healey filing $400 million plan to boost jobs, research in Mass.

Gov. Maura Healey wants to infuse the state's research and jobs sector with hundreds of millions of dollars as Massachusetts grapples with a tight fiscal climate and federal fluctuations in research and education support.

Healey on Thursday announced she's filing a $400 million bill "to leverage private and institutional resources" to retain and create jobs, support research and protect innovation. The proposal is one piece of a new plan the administration has dubbed the "Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy" (DRIVE) initiative.

"This bill is about creating jobs across industries from construction and food services to health care and education," Healey, who is holding a press conference to roll out her plan, said in a statement. "And in the face of uncertainty from the federal government, this is about protecting one of the things that makes Massachusetts so special — our global leadership in health care and helping families across the world.”

The state lost 1,900 payroll jobs in June, according to the most recent data. June unemployment in Massachusetts remained flat at about 4.8%, while the national unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%. The Healey administration has notably changed the way it presents jobs data in recent months.

Healey's office cited a July 2025 report by the UMass Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research Group which found that 81,300 jobs, $7.8 billion of income and more than $16 billion in economic activity are generated and supported by the $8.57 billion in annual federal research and development funding provided to Massachusetts.

About $200 million of Healey's $400 million proposal would go to a one-time multi-year research funding pool, based at MassDevelopment, to support research projects at hospitals, universities and independent research institutions. The state would support the fund by using the interest generated from its stabilization fund, which as of June 2025 had a balance of $8.1 billion.

The other $200 million would be placed into a higher education bridge funding reserve, funded by the income surtax paid by wealthier households. Meant to provide public higher education campuses with support for "direct and indirect costs of research, cross-regional partnerships and joint ventures," according to Healey's office, the reserve would also put funding toward preserving and hiring positions in research and teaching.

According to a July 16 report from the independent database Grant Witness, which tracks National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation grant terminations across the country, Massachusetts institutions have lost more than $1.2 billion in funding this year — funding that was awarded but not paid out due to terminations. The database reports that nearly 700 grants in Massachusetts are currently terminated.

Massachusetts received $22.9 billion in total federal funding in 2024, according to a state funding dashboard. State programs have lost $714 million in federal funding cuts this year, including $14.2 million to economic development, $118.4 million to health and human services, $121 million to education funds and $327 million to transportation, according to the dashboard.

Healey's proposal would also authorize the transfer of additional resources from the pool of federal match funds to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund. The state's Health Safety Net pays acute care hospitals and community health centers for some essential health care services provided to those who are uninsured and underinsured.

In addition to filing a bill, Healey will create a "Research Catalyst Fund" to accept and distribute philanthropic contributions and matching funds from the industry, according to her office. Those funds will be governed by a new Research Opportunity Review Board.

Healey also will sign an executive order creating an Advisory Commission on Advancing Research and Discovery in Massachusetts — a group meant to recommend solutions to "strengthen the research and innovation ecosystem and advance scientific discovery and job creation." The commission will include medical, higher education and economic development sector leaders, per the administration.

States are grappling with the economic impacts of President Donald Trump's shifting tariff and trade policies, which Massachusetts officials have said could dramatically increase the costs of imports needed for things like housing construction. In a more than 200,000-unit housing deficit, the state is attempting over many years to gradually increase housing production. On Thursday, Healey announced $182 million in tax credits and subsidies that her administration said will create at least 1,245 affordable housing units.

According to a Wednesday report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, gross domestic product (GDP), a broad measure of U.S. economic activity, increased at an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter of 2025. U.S. GDOP decreased .5% in the first quarter of 2025, the first time the GDP decreased in three years.